Officials identified the group as the Turtle Island Liberation Front, described as an anti-capitalist and pro-Palestinian group.
The FBI foiled an alleged terrorist plot targeting Los Angeles starting on New Year’s Eve, federal officials said. This comes as multiple U.S. cities are on heightened alert following a terror attack that left at least 15 dead in Australia.
Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X on Dec. 15 that recently, the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) “prevented what would have been a massive and horrific terror plot” in Los Angeles and Orange County, California.
After an intense investigation, the Department of Justice, working with our @FBI, prevented what would have been a massive and horrific terror plot in the Central District of California (Orange County and Los Angeles).
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 15, 2025
The Turtle Island Liberation Front—a far-left,…
The “Turtle Island Liberation Front,” which Bondi described as a “pro-Palestine, anti-government, and anti-capitalist group,” was allegedly aiming to bomb several targets in California starting on New Year’s Eve. FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that four alleged members of the group were arrested.
Over the weekend, the @FBI disrupted a credible, imminent terrorist threat and arrested FOUR individuals connected to the Los Angeles area.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) December 15, 2025
The subjects self-identified as members of a radical offshoot of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), an extremist group motivated by… pic.twitter.com/81NfM1Mvwi
“The subjects self-identified as members of a radical offshoot of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), an extremist group motivated by pro-Palestinian, anti-law-enforcement, and anti-government ideology,” Patel wrote, adding they were allegedly plotting improvised explosive device (IED) bombings at five separate locations in the area.
They were also working to target Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles and agents, Bondi added.
A fifth person connected to TILF was arrested by the FBI’s New Orleans office. That individual was allegedly plotting a violent attack, Patel said.
Four people have been charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
According to an Instagram account connected with TILF, the group repeatedly posts pro-Native American, anti-government, and pro-Palestinian content. The group also includes anti-capitalism messaging and imagery that appears to be sourced from Marxist guerrilla movements.
Neither Bondi nor Patel listed a motive for the alleged attack plots.
The arrests come as officials in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and other U.S. cities said they are on heightened alert following a terror attack in Australia’s Bondi Beach that targeted a Hanukkah event on Dec. 14.
The Los Angeles Police Department said more officers will be sent to Jewish schools, synagogues, and Hanukkah events across the city. Hanukkah began at sundown on Dec. 14 and will last until Dec. 23.
Also, the New York Police Department said it is “deploying additional resources to public Hanukkah celebrations and synagogues out of an abundance of caution.”
“As always, if you see something, say something,” it said.
Over the weekend, there was also a shooting that left two people dead at Rhode Island’s Brown University and an attack that left three Americans dead in central Syria, officials said.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration listed Antifa groups as domestic terrorist organizations, about two weeks after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk at a Utah college. In November, the State Department listed several international Antifa groups as foreign terrorist organizations.
Reuters contributed to this report.
